Will LeBeau be held accountable?

[SteelTorch]

When our offense struggled last season and the season before, Bruce Arians was thrown under the bus repeatedly, and for good reason. Now, we are now at a four game losing streak, and the opposite seems to be the problem.

We have:

A secondary that can't cover.
Cornerbacks who can't get interceptions.
A line that can't stop the run.
Linebackers who repeatedly miss tackles (I'm looking at you, Farrior)
A defense as a whole that becomes a sieve in the fourth quarter, and gives up crucial drives at the worst moments.

What I want to know is: will fans be fair and hold Dick LeBeau accountable? Even Tomlin is getting more criticism than this guy right now. Seems like a double standard to me. Granted, I know execution is something that is up to the players, but really, this defense is nowhere near what it should be.

And don't even try to pin this one on the offense. Granted, they made mistakes too. But 24 points is 24 points, and that should have been enough to win against the lowly Raiders.

[winwithd]

Re: Will LeBeau be held accountable?

I have been somewhat critical of Arians, but this one I put on the defense. To give up three straight drives in the 4th to the Raiders is unacceptable. Mundy was leading with his helmet several times in the 4th, not just the time he got called for it. That includes when he knocked Gay out. He must think he wants to be Ryan Clark. And Burnett's interception drop was unbelievable. Had he been a receiver that would have been a perfect pass from his QB.

[feltdizz]

Re: Will LeBeau be held accountable?

I don't see how anyone can be critical of Arians when our O has fought for the lead in 5 games only to watch our D blow it.

While KC and Oakland are terrible.. I know Oakland is terrible on offense, not defense..

So when other teams are blowing scrub teams out their D usually makes a play or 2..
our D tends to let bad teams look good. While great for ratings its also the reason so many fans think we are lucky and not good.

[BATMAN]

Re: Will LeBeau be held accountable?

They are both accountable. An offense that can't move the ball with little third down conversions. A defense obviously tired of being on the field after the offense fizzles out almost all the time.

A defense with a secondary that couldn't stop a guy in a wheelchair. The defense is horrible and despite the negatives I mentioned about the offense, they have once again gained the lead. And once again the defense allowed the lead to last only a micro second.

[BATMAN]

Re: Will LeBeau be held accountable?

They are both accountable. An offense that can't move the ball with little third down conversions. A defense obviously tired of being on the field after the offense fizzles out almost all the time.

A defense with a secondary that couldn't stop a guy in a wheelchair. The defense is horrible and despite the negatives I mentioned about the offense, they have once again gained the lead. And once again the defense allowed the lead to last only a micro second.

[feltdizz]

Re: Will LeBeau be held accountable?

Another classic BA loss? While Lebeau deserves blame I need to step back and realize he has worked magic with some scrub DB's and Troy...

Maybe we paid too much for Ben and a few other players but it's time to get some new blood. These guys are old and talking about what they gonna do more then just doing it...

I know with decent players we win these games.. these DB's are so bad and so far out of position I think they are talking about what club to hit after the game in the huddle

[SteelCrazy]

Re: Will LeBeau be held accountable?

LeBeau would be held accountable if it were his fault....The DB's are the ones to blame. LeBeau cannot play for them. With Arians, it was because of the play calling, like running the ball 3 straight times on the goal line on more than one occasion. There were several reason Arians caught hell last year and this year.

LeBeau is proven. However, the DB's aren't. A dropped int would have ended that game. Covering your man tight would have helped. There were 7 Db's in the game at the end and the Raiders had max protect and those 7 could not cover 3-4 receivers. Place all the blame for this loss on the D, but LeBeau is not at fault.

[SteelTorch]

Re: Will LeBeau be held accountable?

Another classic BA loss? While Lebeau deserves blame I need to step back and realize he has worked magic with some scrub DB's and Troy...

Maybe we paid too much for Ben and a few other players but it's time to get some new blood. These guys are old and talking about what they gonna do more then just doing it...

I know with decent players we win these games.. these DB's are so bad and so far out of position I think they are talking about what club to hit after the game in the huddle

Excuse me? Magic? Let's see, our cornerbacks still have 0 INT's for the year. Troy is leading the team with picks and has only played three games. We're in the middle of the pack in defensive QB ratings. Our secondary has made scrub QBs look like Pro-Bowlers. We have allowed a 4th quarter lead to be blown in 6 games now.

So please tell me what "magic" he's working here. Because I seem to be missing it.

[feltdizz]

Re: Will LeBeau be held accountable?

Another classic BA loss? While Lebeau deserves blame I need to step back and realize he has worked magic with some scrub DB's and Troy...

Maybe we paid too much for Ben and a few other players but it's time to get some new blood. These guys are old and talking about what they gonna do more then just doing it...

I know with decent players we win these games.. these DB's are so bad and so far out of position I think they are talking about what club to hit after the game in the huddle

Excuse me? Magic? Let's see, our cornerbacks still have 0 INT's for the year. Troy is leading the team with picks and has only played three games. We're in the middle of the pack in defensive QB ratings. Our secondary has made scrub QBs look like Pro-Bowlers. We have allowed a 4th quarter lead to be blown in 6 games now.

So please tell me what "magic" he's working here. Because I seem to be missing it.

I'm talking about past years when Troy was healthy.. I don't think the DB's were any better I just think Troy mask how bad the DB's are...

Obviously without Troy there is no magic.. the curtain has been pulled back.. the DB has been exposed

[Oviedo]

Re: Will LeBeau be held accountable?

LeBeau can't fix the problem. This one is completely on the defense. The secondary is atrocious with blown assignments. That is the DC's fault. Even legends can stay past their "sell by" date. If our whole defense is predicated on Troy then our DC has a crap scheme.

Allow me to also scold Burnett. I'm his biggest supporter. We saw how good he reads plays and breaks on balls but dude you have to catch it no matter how much adrenaline you have in your first chance to do something special. I've seen him make that catch a dozen times. Disappointing but he looked better than Gay...again.

[buckeyehoppy]

Re: Will LeBeau be held accountable?

Yes D!ck LeBeau should be held accountable. No defense in the NFL should be giving up 21 4th quarter points to the D-Cell Chukkas.

The real question here should be this: The Steelers have selected 3 cornerbacks and a safety in the last 3 draft cycles. Can any of these guys catch a ball that's up for grabs any more quickly than they can catch hell for dropping it?

Joe Burnett had the game ending INT IN HIS HANDS!!! Our CBs have ZERO INTs through 12 games.

The Steelers CBs either:
1) Aren't very well coached
2) Weren't very good to begin with
3) Don't give a f---
4) All of the above

#s 1 and 3 are coaching errors, #2 and, partially, #3 is a talent evaluation error.

Troy CAN'T POSSIBLY make this much of a difference. He's a great player. But for this defense to be this much different w/o him in makes no sense. The Steelers D had the win, literally, in their hands, with No Troy Polamalu in the lineup.

LeBeau is a great coach. It's just really sad that this might be what he's remembered for if it's his last season.

[Steel Life]

Re: Will LeBeau be held accountable?

LeBeau would be held accountable if it were his fault....The DB's are the ones to blame. LeBeau cannot play for them. With Arians, it was because of the play calling, like running the ball 3 straight times on the goal line on more than one occasion. There were several reason Arians caught hell last year and this year.

LeBeau is proven. However, the DB's aren't. A dropped int would have ended that game. Covering your man tight would have helped. There were 7 Db's in the game at the end and the Raiders had max protect and those 7 could not cover 3-4 receivers. Place all the blame for this loss on the D, but LeBeau is not at fault.

I'm with you...at some point you have to hold the players accountable. This is a scheme that they practice in & know their assignments...so if they don't execute, or drop INTs, or get penalties to help keep drives alive, then how can you blame him? The area I will blame him for is the continued use of the roaming around defense which was called on the last Oakland TD with Ike rushing rather than being in coverage - this is the second time they've been burned on this & it's clear that this isn't working.

[buckeyehoppy]

Re: Will LeBeau be held accountable?

LeBeau can't fix the problem. This one is completely on the defense. The secondary is atrocious with blown assignments. That is the DC's fault. Even legends can stay past their "sell by" date. If our whole defense is predicated on Troy then our DC has a crap scheme.

Allow me to also scold Burnett. I'm his biggest supporter. We saw how good he reads plays and breaks on balls but dude you have to catch it no matter how much adrenaline you have in your first chance to do something special. I've seen him make that catch a dozen times. Disappointing but he looked better than Gay...again.

Like I said, if this is LeBeau's last hurrah, it'll be too bad.

I've said for years that it doesn't really matter where skill position players are drafted. WRs, RBs and CBs can either play or not. So much of what they do is reading, reacting and going off instinct. When a player like Burnett drops A WIN, the question becomes obvious: is it just rookie nerves or the shape of things to come?

We've drafted 3 CBs in the last three seasons. Right now, two of them (Burnett and Gay) are in competition with one another and neither one is showing the mettle of being able to demonstrate that they can even play at playoff level, much less like champions.

I'm loath to put too much blame on either of these guys. But they can either do this job or not. Gay is at the end of his rope right now, in my view. Burnett must catch that ball when it's in his grasp. Today was his mulligan. The next time establishes a pattern. Then, where will we be?

[feltdizz]

Re: Will LeBeau be held accountable?

Sweed can't catch... why are we surprised the D B's can't catch..

[Chadman]

Re: Will LeBeau be held accountable?

LeBeau is a great coach. It's just really sad that this might be what he's remembered for if it's his last season.

Same could be said for Bill Cowher & his last season here. It sucks when a 'legend', if you will, is either outdone or starts to lose his 'magic'.

After watching Baltimore beat the Steelers Chadman couldn't help but wonder why Lardarius Webb, from tiny little Nicholls St, is able to start, and play well, as a rookie, while Keenan Lewis, Joe Burnett, William Gay, Bryant McFadden, Ryan Mundy etc are unable to perform at a starting level or see the field for any real sustainable amount of time early in their careers. Some of you will throw the old "Steelers scheme is so complex" line at Chadman, but maybe that, in itself, is the issue. Maybe the Steelers need to 'dumb it down' in order to get the better athletes on the field, earlier. Maybe, just maybe, Coach LeBeau needs to work with what talent he has available- create schemes that suit those players & put them in positions to be able to contribute, instead of forcing players to suit his scheme?

Just throwing it out there..